Man Pleads Guilty In Friend's Death

Supplier Of Opium Makes Bid To Avoid Possible Death Sentence

An opium high turned to tragedy more than two years ago when a Sunrise man died of an overdose of the drug that police say was supplied by a friend. Now the friend is trying to avoid prison.

Matthew Jason Sauget, 21, of Plantation, was indicted in February and charged with first-degree murder under a little-used provision that says it is a capital offense to give someone an illegal drug that results in the user's death.

On Friday, Sauget avoided a possible death sentence or life in prison by pleading guilty to manslaughter. A sentencing hearing is set for July 30.

"We will have a rather involved sentencing hearing," Sauget's lawyer, Fred Haddad, said. "There are so many mitigating factors."

Haddad said he thinks Sauget, a Broward Community College student "making straight A's," should be sentenced to withheld adjudication and a couple of years of probation for the death of 41-year-old David Michael Juravel.

"Based on my thorough investigation, to allow the defendant to plead to manslaughter was appropriate," prosecutor Ken Padowitz said. He said he could not disclose his recommendation, but the sentencing guideline range is 9 1/4 to 15 1/2 years.

Sauget gave police this account of the events leading up to Juravel's death in January 1995, according to reports: Sauget found a 10-ounce bottle of liquid opium in his father's medicine cabinet. His father, an AIDS patient who has since died, had been prescribed the drug to combat side effects from the disease.

On Jan. 15, 1995, Sauget called Juravel and invited him to share the opium.

They started out at Juravel's apartment on Sunrise Lakes Boulevard with small hits and progressed to bigger ones. In a three-hour period, Juravel took eight ounces. The men drove to a video store, then to a parking lot at Sunset Strip and University Drive, where they slept until 11 p.m.

When Sauget noticed Juravel appeared to stop breathing three times, he administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Sauget drove to his father's apartment in Wilton Manors and dragged the unconscious Juravel inside. There he undressed the older man, put him to bed and periodically checked on him.

Juravel was making gurgling sounds and appeared to have problems breathing.

The last time Sauget saw Juravel alive was at 6:30 a.m. Two hours later, Sauget awoke, saw that Juravel was not breathing, and called 911.